The scientific revolution and Enlightenment in Europe

In the mid-1500s, scientists began to question accepted beliefs and make new theories based on experimentation. By the 1600s, a revolution in intellectual activity changed Europeans' view of government and society.

Goals & Objectives:

Goals: Students will understand how the Scientific Revolution set the stage for the Enlightenment.Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will identify, analyze, and compare the major ideas of Enlightenment philosophers-Locke, Roussueau, Hobbes, Montesquieu, Beccaria, Wollstonecraft, and Voltaire by completing a graphic organizer.

California state content standard

10.2.1 Compare the major ideas of philosophers and their effects on the democratic revolutions in England, the United States, France, and Latin America (e.g. John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Simon Bolivar, Thomas Jeffeson, James Madison)

Lesson introductions (anticipatory set)

As students enter the classroom, they are aware that once they are seated they must take out their History Spiral Notebooks and work on the Warm-Up posted on the front whiteboard. The teacher will read the directions and questions aloud for the class. Students are instructed to open their History textbook to page 185, and answer the Standard-Based Assessment Questions 1 and 2. They will read the primary source excerpt from the English Bill of Rights that reads:

"That the pretended power of suspending [canceling] of laws of the execution [carrying out of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal:... That it is the right of the subjects to petition [make requests of] the king, and all commitments [imprisonments] and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;... That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kindgom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament out to be free [not restricted]."The questions ask, "According to the excerpt, which of the following is illegal?" and "The English Bill of Rights was passed as a means to..."After 3 minutes, the teacher askes students to explain their responses and the significance of the English Bill of Rights that was previously covered in the preceding lesson, along with the Magna Carta and Glorious Revolution. Teacher then explains the connection it has to the revolution of ideas, both socially and politically, that are taking place during this time perios and its relevance of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment.

Vocabulary (Content Language Development)

Students will be provided an advanced organizer that outlines the lesson, its important concepts, and key terms in the form of guided notes . Difficult terms will be defined in the advanced graphic organizer, and will be explained further by the teacher during lecture. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions or for clarifications on unknown or confusing terms. Providing students with a list of the key terms, they will be instructed to annotate them as they read guided notes, sources, or other supplementary material. It will help make the content more accessible to all students, ELs and Struggling Readers alike, but will benefit the entire class as well.checks and balances philosophe direct democracy ProsperityEnlightenment Reasonenlightened despot Revolutionfederal system republicanism ideology Social Contract Liberty Logic

Content Delivery (Lecture)

The teacher begins the SlideRocket lecture presentation on the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. With 15 slides, the presentation mirrors the outline in the students’ Lecture Review guided notes. It includes content reinforcement through visuals and text, as the students listen to the teacher orate the lecture as well. It goes on to describe the ideas held before and after the Scientific Revolution, as well as its prominent figures and the different philosopher’s of the Enlightenment and their major ideas. The focus however, is more on the Enlightenment, but by including them together, students can make connections to understand what was occurring during this time that would set the stage for the Enlightenment. The teacher models “active teaching” during the full-class instruction, presenting the new content in small, yet meaningful chunks, tomake it clear and comprehensible to students.

After the lecture, students are instructed to work in their assigned groups, made of up to 4 students for the next 15 minutes. Unknown to the students, each group is heterogeneously composed of 1-2 ELs, Struggling Readers, or students with Special Needs, along with proficient English speakers who can offer support. Students are instructed to complete the graphic organizer titled “Major Ideas of the Enlightenment.” It is partially completed already, under the “Impact” section, outlining its influence in Europe and the U.S. 4 Enlightenment thinkers are included (Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Beccaria, Wollstonecraft) and students must complete the remaining sections on “Quotes” and “Idea” with a minimum of 2 bullet points for each.

The teacher signals the beginning of the whole class discussion by drawing attention to the front of the class. Teacher selects volunteers to share their responses aloud, and have them explain their responses.

Student engagement & Critical Thinking (Student activities)

Through the content reinforcement of text and visuals, along with the teacher’s oratory presentation, it will allow students to attentively pay attention. Students are constantly being engaged, whether it is through writing, thinking, listening or sharing their ideas with the class. The teacher modeling “active teaching” is effective as new content material is organized in small, bite-sized chunks, allowing students to easily follow along and draw connections between prior knowledge and new content.

Students form their assigned heterogeneous groups and participate in their group activity. Students either divide the philosophers or work on them one by one, as they begin to read, discuss, and write down their answers in the graphic organizer. Students benefit from group work as they learn to interact with one another their findings and ideas. In working in small groups, students are able to read through the material, their guided notes, condense outline, and textbook, together while engaging in inquiry learning in order to organize information it into their respective sections. They learn to make connections, and compare the different philosophers and their ideas, both similar and different. Students are either chosen to volunteer to communicate their responses verbally, or listen to the correct or corrected responses of their peers. Receiving differentiated and individual feedback from the teacher during the learning process encourages student to revise their responses.

Students will hold on to their graphic organizers, in order to complete the bottom portion of the philosophers' influence on Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, come the American Revolution section of the unit.

Demonstrated Learning (Formative Assessment)

To begin the lesson, an informal Entry Level assessment will be used to assess the students recently acquired content from the lesson before concerning the Magna Carta, Glorious Revolution, and the English Bill of Rights. To assess student understanding, students will review the anticipatory set questions and answer them in their History Spiral Notebooks, and then pair-share. Students ultimately engage in a directed discussion, in which the teacher will correct or expand on student responses. Based on the students’ responses, the teacher will assess and focus on the areas that need more attention, to make meaning of the new content and draw connections between prior knowledge and new content.

Informal, formative assessment will continue as students work in their groups of 4 in order to complete the graphic organizer. Based on the students’ conversations and analysis of the supplemental material they have after the lecture, the teacher assesses the students’ knowledge of the recently acquired content material. Students will read text and review their annotations in their guided notes, as well as refer to the textbook or condensed outline for points of reference, in order to accurately complete the graphic organizer that includes Enlightenment thinkers Locke, Roussueau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Beccaria, and Wollstonecraft. Each group will then volunteer or be chosen to share their responses and explain how they differentiate from the other philosophers' major ideas or are similar. The teacher will correct or add to student responses, and based on the whole class discussion, will assess students’proficiency in the new content-whether they need further scaffolding, clarification, practice, need to reteach the material, or are able to move on to the next day’s lesson that depends on a solid foundation of factual knowledge to carry out higher-order cognitive skills.

Lesson Closure

Students are able to review their Lecture Review guided notes, condensed outline, and graphic organizer and complete the “3-2-1”. By having them think of their own learning process and progress, students are then able to monitor their own learning. They are able to self assess whether they are achieving the objectives or still need more help to do so. The closure activity allows students to define what they have learned as well. By having it as an “exit slip” students are held accountable to complete and turn in quality work, which will be read by the teacher in order to further inform instruction.

Accomodations for English Learners, Struggling Readers

Adaptations are made for ELs as they are allowed to make annotations in their Lecture Review Guided Notes advanced organizer in both English and Spanish, if needed. This allows the student to include their own prior knowledge from their primary language, in order to make connections to the new content in their secondary language, making it easier to transfer their understanding from one language to the other, which helps them focus on the content rather than the language during informal activities. By also creating heterogeneous groups, ELs will be paired with students with mixed abilities, including proficient English speakers who can often communicate with them in their primary language and offer support or feedback. The supplemental material: Lecture Review guided notes makes it easier to follow along during lecture and focus on the main points during instruction, almost like a road map for the student and explain difficult terms. The graphic organizer allows the student to organize information in meaningful ways, in order to be revisited later on.

Struggling Readers will also benefit from the Lecture Review guided notes and graphic organizer. By pairing them in heterogeneous groups as well, Struggling Readers also receive the support of their peers. They engage in reading and discussion that exposes them and has them apply their listening, reading, and writing skills to demonstrate their content understanding. Also, by having Struggling Readers sit near the front of the classroom, they will see and hear the teacher model correct pronunciation of words, reading fluency, and reading strategies, as they follow along with their guided notes and lecture presentation. Including a graphic organizer in the lesson allows students to organize the material in meaningful ways. Using both simple phrases and defined key terms, Struggling Readers will have more exposure to content vocabulary and high utility words as well.

Depending on the student’s special need, adaptations will take into consideration learning preferences and abilities in order to be accurately responsive. Taking into consideration how disabilities impact on learning preferences and ability, an alternative form of assessment is needed in order to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the content, if cooperative or inquiry learning strategies are a struggle for students. If they have consistently demonstrated that they not only struggle with his reading and writing skills, but also in working with others in a collaborative setting, one-on-one assessments between the teacher and student may take place. By providing an alternative that takes away the anxiety and stress that the student feels working with others, in addition to having to present in class, will help the student focus on the content for an authentic assessment of their understanding of the content. As a result, providing students with guided notes and an advanced organizer, and graphic organizer do not lessen the work the student has to complete or the expectations of the learning goals, but assist in the students achieving them. The supplemental tools are for students to reference and guide their focus of the big ideas discussed during class and through the whole-class oral reading. Students may also have the option to work independently when appropriate.